Armstrong: 'sick of this'

In a conference call tonight, Lance Armstrong said he's definitely finished with professional cycling. "I'm happy with the way my career ended. I'm not going back," Armstrong said. "There is no way I can go back [to France].

"I know if I go back there is no way I am going to get a fair shake in the lab, on the roadside, in the hotel, in my food. I am sick of dealing with this [stuff]."

There's some speculation that Armstrong might have brought the whole mess on himself after it was disclosed that Armstrong gave permission to L'Equipe reporter Damien Ressiot to investigate his drug test results. At the time Armstrong gave his permission, he did not know about the controversial EPO test.

Armstrong and his agent Bill Stapleton also pounded WADA chief Dick Pound in the call. Armstrong and Pound have had a long-running feud. According to Stapleton, Pound's allegations that the EPO test leaks came from the UCI are attempts to "misdirect and divert the attention away from himself" and the WADA. "Pound has a long-standing pattern of attacking athletes prior to them having due process and has made statements that are in contradiction of his own code." Pound alleged that the UCI itself was the source of the leak that identified Armstrong's urine samples shortly after the UCI stated that there is no evidence of doping by Lance Armstrong.